Unable to install new residents in seniors’ homes, several regions use them to accommodate residents of CHSLDs undergoing renovation.
The Saint-Étienne-de-Lauzon seniors’ home, in Lévis, was inaugurated in February, but due to the labor shortage, the majority of its pretty rooms with large windows are still empty; only 24 of its 120 places are occupied. The local health authorities therefore found an astonishing vocation for it.
At the end of May, 48 residents of the CHSLD de Sainte-Hénédine will come to settle there while work is being carried out in their residence; their stay is expected to last 12 to 18 months. In the fall, it will be the turn of 33 residents of the CHSLD de Saint-Isidore to stay there during renovations. And since the staff follow the residents, this temporarily compensates for the lack of manpower at the seniors’ home.
Meanwhile, another seniors’ home in Chaudière-Appalaches — that of Black Lake — will welcome three waves of residents from the CHSLD Denis-Marcotte for a period of nine months each.
“The objective is to create new squares, but our houses [des aînés] are ready and we don’t have the staff to fill all the places. So why not ? summarizes Chantal Caron, director of accommodation at the regional CISSS.
Previously, work in CHSLDs was done in phases. The residents then remained on site during the work or, in some cases, were transferred to other residences. However, the situation allows the CISSS de Chaudière-Appalaches to proceed differently. “We do the work, it takes less time, our residents are less disturbed and then we bring them back. »
She also expects that the work at the CHSLD de Sainte-Hénédine will last half as long as usual thanks to this measure.
Same thing elsewhere in Quebec
The duty discovered that this practice was widespread. The health authorities of the Capitale-Nationale, Laval, Laurentides, Lanaudière, Outaouais and Estrie have all done the same thing or are preparing for it.
Could this be a directive from the Ministry of Health? Mme Caron says no and that she was unaware of other regions doing the same when she interviewed The duty last week. She also ensures that the work in the CHSLDs was “already planned” and that they were not brought forward.
On the other side of the river, in Quebec and not far from Portneuf, three new seniors’ homes will welcome 156 people in this way over the next few months.
In Laval, the CISSS has confirmed that it has “recently” been using this practice at the Chomedey seniors’ home, the only one on its territory. In Estrie, the local CISSS confirmed that it was “a planned strategy for certain seniors’ homes and alternatives”, but that we did not know when it would be deployed. In Outaouais, 44 of the 144 places created in seniors’ homes and alternatives will be occupied by relocated patients in order to allow the renovation of an existing CHSLD, explains the CISSS.
In Lanaudière, the new Saint-Charles-Borromée seniors’ home should serve as a base for residents of the CHSLD Alphonse-Rondeau and the Center multiservice Claude-David, both under construction.
Finally, in the Laurentians, the Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts seniors’ home will welcome residents of the CHSLD de Mont-Tremblant while work is being carried out there.
Stay or move again?
When the construction site ends, residents of the CHSLD de Mont-Tremblant “will have the possibility” of staying in the Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts seniors’ home if “such is their wish”, said spokesperson Mélanie The rock.
In Laval, “seniors’ homes are now part of the options offered to residents [des CHSLD] as “first choice of accommodation” during the work,” the local CISSS also indicated.
In Lévis, it is less clear. This will be possible “at the limit”, indicated the director of accommodation, Chantal Caron. “Our goal is to return people to their accommodation center afterwards, she said, but they will have the opportunity to stay if they wish”.
However, everything suggests that some seniors will want to return to their original CHSLD, often located closer to their family members. Radio-Canada reported last week that the announcement of the upcoming move of residents of Saint-Isidore angered some of their relatives – about thirty kilometers separate the two establishments.
Launched in 2018 by the government of the Coalition avenir Québec, seniors’ homes aim to offer a more human housing model to seniors, while CHSLDs are closer to the hospital model.
Elders’ homes consist of 12-person units, which are similar to houses with individual rooms and spacious, well-lit common areas. The Minister for Health and Seniors, Sonia Bélanger, has already expressed her wish to convert all CHSLDs into seniors’ homes.
In this context, the transfer of patients and teams from one place to another makes it possible, in a way, to “implement” the culture of seniors’ homes in CHSLDs, underlines Ms.me Because we.
The race for staff continues
One thing is certain, this transitional period gives a little more time to managers looking for staff for seniors’ homes. A titanic challenge since they need more employees than the CHSLDs.
“It’s more people to pick up, but for our residents, it’s such a ‘plus'”, underlines Mme Because we. When it is at its maximum capacity, the Saint-Étienne seniors’ home will need 280 employees to take care of its 120 residents; for the time being, it lacks 205.
The director of care hopes to find them “by the end of the year”. The CISSS de Chaudière-Appalaches holds open days and integrates aspiring attendants into its teams during their studies to achieve this. Beneficiary attendants have already been recruited in Tunisia, and missions abroad are underway to find nurses.
Some 496 people are on the waiting list for a place in a CHSLD in the region. Across Quebec, there are 4168.